Change Request Management

As a Business Analyst, we are responsible for all the change requests, Change requests may vary in amount and complexity throughout business projects and may arise in before, during or after implementation of a solution. So let us discuss some key tips to be mindful of when handling change requests.

Understand the below:

Reason for the change

Make sure that you know why the change is required. At the point of analysis, this will benefit you and the stakeholder(s) to decide if there are any current and adequate workarounds that can achieve the similar objective, with marginal impact. The reasoning for the change request can form a source for determining to implement or reject it, based on expected benefits and existing capabilities when the change request is offered for approval.

Impact of the change

At this point, we should realise the side effects or consequences that the implementation of the change would have on other requirements, stakeholders, policies , systems, processes or procedures. The +ve and -ve impacts of the change should also be evaluated. Which job roles will be affected? Which activities have now become necessary or redundant?

Effort required to implement the change

A change that offers little value but demands a significant amount of resources to implement may not be worth the effort. In order to decide about whether or not to implement a particular change, it is vital to evaluate if the resources (Money, staff, time, etc.) to be invested is equal with the benefits that are anticipated to be attained. It is beneficial at this point to liaise with developers or consultants who can decide how much work the change requires.

Ensure that the change request obeys the predetermined approval process

Change requests relating to projects or existing systems should not be implemented at will but delivered through a steering committee or a change control board so that they can be adequately prioritised. The composition of the team or change control board may vary depending on the type of the requirements and the complexity of the change.

The fact that businesses are frequently faced with various requests to implement changes simultaneously, it is definitely important to classify which projects need to be worked on while taking into consideration the available resources and the anticipated benefits to be received from implementing such changes.

Business analyst has a key role to play in change management, especially when it comes to minimising and identifying the domino effect that can arise when changes are made to a requirement that is reliant on other requirements. The insight of the BA should be applied to validating the impact of change requests across the business.